To the sometimes precious, pampered world of haute couture, the designer Alexander McQueen was the undisputed enfant terrible, a contradictory and turbulent creative genius who rose from an estate in London’s East End to rub shoulders with the rich and famous. But for fashion stylist Archie Reed, who was McQueen’s lover – on and off – for 12 years, and his closest confidant, he was not just a designer of peerless clothes.

He was a loyal friend, a tender boyfriend, a generous benefactor and an impetuous, sometimes paranoid cocaine-user who squandered millions on drink and drugs before taking his own life at the tragically young age of 40 in February 2010.

McQueen, of course, thrived on shock, controversy and confrontation. But few in his inner circle were party to what he really thought about his high-profile clients. Archie, now 38, can’t resist a wry smile at the many celebrities who queued up to acclaim him after his death.

The designer Alexander McQueen was the undisputed enfant terrible, a contradictory and turbulent creative genius who rose from an estate in London’s East End to rub shoulders with the rich and famous

When, for example, Victoria Beckham paid tribute, she said McQueen was ‘a master of fashion, creative genius and an inspiration… he made all he touched beautiful and will be desperately missed’.

Mrs Beckham was, however, unaware that McQueen became incandescent with rage when he saw a picture of her wearing his classic tartan skirt in 2006.

Archie recalls: ‘He exploded in fury and said, “David can wear my clothes but she can’t.”

Victoria Beckham: “What the f*** does she know about fashion? She’s a pop star, and she can’t even sing" was Alexander McQueen's considered opinion of the pop star-cum-fashion designer

‘He thought David was hot, but he couldn’t abide Victoria. After he saw her in his tartans he put out the word that she wasn’t allowed to get any freebies any more.’

These days, Archie is also a successful businessman, running a string of restaurants in Essex. He first met the designer as a child and knew him by his real first name Lee, as did his family.

‘Lee didn’t rate her as a fashion designer at all,’ he explains, ‘and used to say, “What the f*** does she know about fashion? She’s a pop star, and she can’t even sing.”

‘No matter how famous he was, he always used to say that celebrity and celebrities didn’t matter to him at all.’

McQueen poses with Sarah Jessica Parker during arrivals at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

He revealed that McQueen once threw a baked potato at Madonna during a dinner party with Sir Elton John. ‘After it hit her in the head, she refused to talk to Lee again, but he didn’t care. He said to me, “She’s so stuck up her own backside to worry about anyone else.”

‘When Madonna married Guy Ritchie and moved to an English country estate. Lee told me, “She is trying to be lord and lady of the manor, and she’s so not either…’’ ’

McQueen also took against rock singer Courtney Love after she told her ‘people’ to call his to arrange for Love to pick out one of his dresses from his Bond Street shop.

Archie says: ‘Afterwards, he told me that Courtney had tried to walk out with £40,000 worth of his clothes. He said, “What cheek to think that she can walk out with £40,000 of my clothes for free! Bill her!” ’

He could turn on his friends, too, when he thought they let him down. Archie says that supermodel Kate Moss was once one of the designer’s closest friends, and called her ‘a female version of me’. He was loyal to her when Moss was accused of using cocaine in 2005. When the fashion world began to turn against her, McQueen wore a T-shirt saying We Love You Kate.

When the fashion world began to turn against Kate Moss when she was accused of using cocaine, McQueen wore a T-shirt saying We Love You Kate.

But their friendship hit the rocks after Moss went into partnership with Top Shop owner Philip Green. McQueen was so furious that he took down Kate’s picture from his office wall and replaced it with one of his sister.

Archie remembers McQueen telling him: ‘Kate can come down, the bitch. I went out on a limb for that girl, and she didn’t even say thank you.’

Not, says Archie, that his friend really meant it. ‘He was just hurt.’

McQueen also had a falling-out with the formidable Vogue editor, Anna Wintour, over a photoshoot. ‘They were so alike,’ Archie says. ‘He told me, “She’s got a rod up her backside. She won’t compromise.” ’

One woman McQueen adored was filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood. Archie says: ‘When she started going out with Aaron Johnson, who is half her age, he was really happy for her because he loved anyone who didn’t give a damn.’

Closest of all to McQueen was eccentric fashion genius Isabella ‘Issy’ Blow, who had discovered him, and used to confide in Archie.

Closest of all to McQueen was eccentric fashion genius Isabella ‘Issy’ Blow, who had discovered him, and used to confide in Archie Reed, his on-off boyfriend

‘We were at The Groucho one night, and Issy, who longed to have a child, said to me, “I’ve tried and tried and tried, but maybe I’m not supposed to have a child.” Then she turned to Lee and said, “He’s my child. I adore him.” And Lee adored her, too. He adored her eccentricity, her madness, her darkness.

‘But at the same time, she was the funniest person, and genuinely cared about Lee. She used to go down to Hornchurch in Essex, and see his mum, Joyce, and have cups of tea with her, just the two of them. And she would phone her for hours, asking for advice about men.’

Isabella was so desperate to find love and happiness with a man, says Archie, that when she met his man-eater aunt, Jacqueline, she immediately latched on to her.

‘My aunt had men wrapped around her little finger, and Issy said, “I’ve never been lucky with men, Jacqueline, please teach me!’’

McQueen (leftL) and milliner Philip Treacy walk down the runway at the end of McQueen's Spring/Summer 2008 ready-to-wear fashion collection show in Paris.
Treacy designed the hats for McQueen's show

‘We were at the V Festival at the time, and when Lee saw how interested Issy was in my aunt Jacqueline, he got really jealous.’

Archie claims that Lee’s jealousy that day was ignited by the cocaine he had snorted before leaving home. In the months leading up to her death in 2007, Isabella made a series of suicide attempts, but Archie believes that McQueen was not always sympathetic.

‘He felt Issy’s suicide attempts were attention-seeking and would say, “If you are going to do a job, do it properly.’’ ’

The truth, however, was that McQueen was deeply affected by her suicide and took a self-destructive path after her death. Archie says: ‘He did a lot more drugs and drink and moved into town, where he was surrounded by sycophants.’

Archie and Lee met at the London club L’Atelier in 1997, with neither realising at the time that they had met before, 12 years earlier, when the 15-year-old McQueen worked as a glass collector at a bar called Reflections in Stratford, east London, and Archie was nine.

‘I was with my brother and Lee was picking up glasses. He looked so shy and nervous. We called him The Fly because he used to buzz around,’ he recalls.

But by the time they met again, Lee had morphed from podgy east London bovver boy to suave and sophisticated fashion king Alexander McQueen. He called Archie his ‘rough diamond’ because of his multitude of tattoos and because he worked as a personal protection officer to the Sultan of Brunei.

Lee morphed from podgy east London bovver boy to suave and sophisticated fashion king Alexander McQueen

But Archie says he had no idea who Lee was when he invited him home to his house in Highbury, north London, and ended up in his bedroom.

By dawn, Lee and Archie were comparing notes about their east London backgrounds. ‘I asked him what he did, and Lee replied, “I’m a stitch bitch. I make clothes.”

‘I said, “That’s cool, my dad sold tailored clothes in the East End.’’ But I still didn’t know he was Alexander McQueen, though he did look a little familiar.

‘I felt that we were soul mates. Then he said, “I’m sorry, I have to kick you out. Stella McCartney is coming over in a few minutes.” ’

The penny only dropped a few days later when Archie was telling friends about his new romance.

‘After I found out who he was, I sent him a text saying, “Ha, ha, ha, I know who you are!” And he texted me back, “Ha, ha, ha, I know who you are!’’

Archie soon became aware of McQueen’s £600-a-day cocaine habit, which manifested itself in unpredictable behaviour and mood swings. ‘His drug habit was so extreme that dealers would simply post cocaine through the letterbox of his home, knowing they would be paid later,’ he recalls.

Throughout their long relationship, the bisexual Archie was married to singer Alexis Reed – and the couple are still together. He also has a daughter, Chelsea, of whom Lee became very jealous.

Archie says: ‘He couldn’t bear the fact that I was sharing my life with my daughter and he always felt that he was second fiddle to her. When I was with her, he wouldn’t leave me alone. He called me a hundred times a day until I came home.’

Archie, in turn, was equally possessive of McQueen. When men threw themselves at McQueen while they were having dinner together in restaurants, Archie sometimes resorted to his fists. He says: ‘Lee secretly loved that, because it showed how much I loved him.’

McQueen smiles at the end of his Autumn/Winter 2007-2008 ready-to-wear fashion show in Paris

McQueen’s jealous streak led him to ban Archie from his flamboyant fashion extravaganzas.

‘Lee was very worried about me and the models, and gay guys would gravitate to me. He didn’t like that. He didn’t want to share me with his working world.’

As a result, the two lovers spent most of their time together in another of McQueen’s houses, in Fairlight, Sussex, enjoying evenings watching movies. The Wizard Of Oz was McQueen’s favourite, and he often cooked for Archie. ‘His best dish was Thai green curry,’ Archie remembers. ‘He also had a special recipe: baked beans, cooked with extra butter, garlic, black pepper and salt, and a little pinch of chilli. I still follow that recipe.’

McQueen’s caring side was also evident when he consoled Archie after his grandmother passed away. ‘When Lee knew you were genuinely upset, he would go all out for you. He was such a kind and genuine person. A couple of days after my grandmother died, the Rolex watch I was given as a 21st birthday present was stolen in a burglary. He telephoned me and said, “Tonight we’re going to chill at home and watch movies.”

‘When I got home, he gave me a Gucci box, filled with cashmere jumpers. Underneath was a £4,000 vintage diamond Cartier watch.

‘Lee said, “That’s to remember me by.” I was really upset and said, “Where are you going?” But Lee didn’t answer. I loved the watch, and I still wear it, but what I really wanted was him.’

McQueen showered Archie with gifts, including a ring studded with diamonds, a sapphire, ruby and dia-mond heart and cross, and a specially commissioned portrait of himself, with a hand-written inscrip-tion on the back saying: ‘To my baby, Archie, love always, Lee.’

Four years after McQueen’s death, Archie is selling the portrait and some of McQueen’s other gifts in an attempt to move on with his life and to raise money for charity.

Their relationship came to an end before the designer died, after McQueen ‘outed’ Archie by describing him as his boyfriend in a newspaper.

‘Lee and I had words a few days before he died,’ Archie remembers. ‘When I heard the news, I was devastated, but not surprised. He was obsessed by death. He had researched Marilyn Monroe’s sui-cide in detail on the internet, and read all the post-mortems.

‘He said to me, “As I was powerful in life, I will be a god in death. And gays don’t do old.”

‘I always felt that no matter how long we were apart, we would end up together. I still love and miss him.’